RIP Padre

Going High

A high school classmate of mine, Leesa Coble, recently posted this on FB:

THIS PIECE! I'm in awe of how many right notes this piece hits about how truly dangerous and genuinely deeply rooted in white robes and hoods Trump's anti-immigration stance is. Yet, the writer barely mentions him, it's sublime. Jason Cordero, perhaps this speaks to some of the questions you posted about earlier. This turnaround gives me hope in humanity when it feels like so many have lost theirs. God, I wish I wrote this.

Two days later, I responded:

Thank you for sharing this with me, Leesa!  I certainly agree – it’s a very inspiring article.  Sorry it’s taken so long for me to respond… :/

Nevertheless, here’s where I think the rubber meets the road in this piece, when a student asks a question in the school’s online forum similar to the ones (I think) you were referring to:   

“'Who’s clever enough to think of something we can do to change this guy’s mind?’”

That’s something I’ve been wondering aloud for many years now – how do you change someone’s mind politically?  

Most answer with some variation on the futility of such efforts – there simply is no way to dissuade people with different political leanings – but I don’t believe that and Matthew Stevenson certainly didn’t either.  Maybe we just need to look at our tactics.

Could we liberals learn something from how Matthew helped change Derek’s mind?

Or should we continue to believe it’s impossible because some of our favorite tactics (a facile meme, a sick burn, or le snark du jour) tend not to persuade our political opponents but do the opposite?  (As one student in the article states, “'Ostracizing Derek won’t accomplish anything.’”)

I’m a little ashamed to admit that when “Mathew decided his best chance to affect Derek’s thinking was not to ignore him or confront him, but simply to include him,” telling his friends “to treat him like anyone else,” I had to choke back a mordant chuckle.   

Was that idea “clever” or simply kind, human?  

  
Now, granted, it’s pretty easy for me to sit here as a cisgender male with plenty of privilege to say, “Be kind to people that don’t like you,” since I obviously haven’t felt the hate as fiercely as people in marginalized communities have.  But look how being kind worked out for Matthew, whose Jewish ancestry ascribes him to one of our most historically marginalized groups.

He helped change a hateful heart to an accepting one.

And, sorry to be “that guy” with the MLK quotes, but this reminds me of a passage in his book, Stride Toward Freedom, when Dr. King talks about the people that bombed his house with his wife and newborn daughter inside.  

“They say the things they say about us and treat us as they do because they have been taught these things.  From the cradle to the grave, it is instilled in them that the Negro is inferior.  Their parents probably taught them that; their schools they attended taught them that; the books they read, even their churches and minister, often taught them that.”

Doesn’t that sound like Derek’s childhood?  King recognized and acknowledged the humanity in his enemies just as Matthew did in Derek, and they both got positive results.

King told the crowd that had gathered at his house after the bombing:

 “'If you have weapons, take them home…’  I then urged them to leave peacefully, ‘We must love our white brothers,’ I said, ‘no matter what they do to us.  We must make them know that we love them… This is what we must live by.  We must meet hate with love.’”

Or as our FLOTUS put it, “When they go low, we go high!” 

I try, but Matthew Stevenson most definitely does.

Thanks again for sharing! :)

Outliers Who Support A Liar

I’ve heard many things said about Trump supporters but here are a few myths that my amazing colleagues, lovely friends, and loving family members who support him have dispelled for me:

Trump supporters are stupid. Sorry, almost without exception the people I’ve talked to who support him are very smart, extremely intelligent, and have college degrees (some with Masters) not to mention that many, like my colleagues at school, work with some of the most under-served populations in our society, which leads me to…

They are hateful. Again, not from my experience. All of the aforementioned are thoughtful, caring, loving people whose generosity knows no bounds. I see it every day. 

And finally… 

Public schools are almost exclusively liberal. Haha, I know! I was shocked, too, but it’s NOT true. At least from my experience, many teachers support Trump (and many are female, too!)

Which begs the question: Liberals, what are we doing wrong? 

Why can’t we get these loving, lovely people to vote for our candidate??

They are NOT Klingons!!

"What's a Kardashian?" - Overheard conversation between two 5th graders...

Haha, I KNEW i had a good class this year!!